NIDRR grantees are given money to do the work they described in their proposal which was deemed fundable by a panel of expert peer reviewers. So they go about their business engaging in the research and development process otherwise known as the "activity or work phase." Throughout this process, NIDRR project officers monitor their progress using a variety of strategies and tools. For more information on how NIDRR monitors its performance, and the performance its grantees, check out NIDRR's Performance Page.

A grantee's research and development process usually takes place over a number of years and the end result is usually: Publications and Products. NIDRR calls its publications and products outputs. There are four types of outputs produced by grantees. Click on an output type below to learn more and see what outputs are available to the public through NIDRR's library and information center known as the National Rehabilitation Information Center.

NARIC collects all different types of publications that are produced by our grantees. They then develop short abstracts about each publication and add the abstract and citation information to REHABDATA, a searchable database of rehabilitation literature which they maintain for NIDRR.

There are a number of ways to search for NIDRR-produced publications of interest to you. If you want to view a list of REHABDATA searches by NIDRR program and year, check out the links below:

Looking for a tool produced by a NIDRR grantee but don't know where to start. Try searching the The NARIC Tools Collection. Tools are surveys and measurement or diagnostic instruments or checklists used to assess the extent of a problem.

Technology-related information usually refers to standards for doing something or building something the right way, i.e., standards for building a wheelchair, an accessible van, standards for a transporting a wheelchair user safely in a vehicle. Sometimes, the standards for doing something or building something the right way already exist but have become outdated because of new developments on the market.

Other standards for doing something or building something the right way do not exist because no one has ever tried to do what is being proposed. In either case, grantees from our Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program and our Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) program are the ones that provide the brain power behind the standards work. Click here to view some documents that relate to engineering standards work.

Technology products usually refer to the "cool stuff" that people make, build, or write about. NIDRR RERC and SBIR grantees are also involved in making, building, or testing stuff. They do it following a process known as the design process. The process itself can be complicated but basically it starts with understanding a problem faced by group of users. Then interviewing the users to discover what features or needs the users care about or want the product to be able to do. Technology people then take this information, known as user requirements, and start to design, build, test and make something. The something they make is called a prototype which is then tested by a group of users for feedback. The prototype or product is then tweaked or re-designed and re-tested with the users until they satisfy the user requirements.

Information products are generally geared toward the layperson audience and can include things like "how-to" manuals, CDs, newsletters, brochures, training guides, etc. Our grantees produce many of these types of outputs.

An ever-increasing number of full text informational products is available from within REHABDATA, a database of rehabilitation and disability literature. For examples of full-text information products produced by NIDRR grantees in 2012, click here.

Hint: After clicking on the "click here" link above, a list of 2012 information products and their titles and NARIC Accession Numbers will appear. To learn how to obtain a full-text version of the information product, click on the hyperlinked-blue NARIC Accession Number.